1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to trash disposal aids and more particularly to a novel bottle crusher for fragmenting glass bottles and the like for ease of disposal.
2. Discussed of the Prior Art
As will appear from the ensuing description, the bottle crusher of the invention may be utilized as a general purpose bottle crusher for breaking up or fragmenting any type of glass bottle for ease of disposal or other purpose. The invention, however, is particularly concerned with and will be described in the context of, breaking empty liquor bottles in commercial establishments which serve liquor both for ease of disposal of the empty bottles and compliance with liquor laws.
Disposal of empty liquor bottles is a major problem in cocktail bars, lounges, and other commercial establishments which serve liquor in large quantity. Such establishments must also comply with liquor laws which require breaking of empty liquor bottles to prevent their reuse. Compliance with such liquor laws is generally accomplished by breaking the neck off each empty bottle. In some cases, the thus fragmented bottle is simply thrown into a trash receptacle. This method of disposing of the bottles, however, has a disadvantage in that the empties take a large volume of space. As a consequence, the empty bottles are sometimes fragmented or crushed to reduce their volume for ease of containment and disposal.
A variety of bottle breakers or crushers for this purpose have been devised. Examples of such bottle crushers are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,125,651, 3,151,814, 2,167,040, 2,168,226, 2,176,552, 2,178,797, 2,215,508, 2,665,632, and 3,779,157.